


Unbroken Road

by aeriamamaduck



Series: Yet Shall We Live [2]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Domestic, Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Love, Marriage, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 21:25:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12920559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeriamamaduck/pseuds/aeriamamaduck
Summary: The aftermath of Martin and Minerva's unexpected return.





	Unbroken Road

After a decade of change and unbelievable happenings, Aziza thought there was little left to catch her by surprise.

 

That changed when she walked into her family home just a few days ago, expecting to find her resurrected pair of ancestors at the table drinking tea but instead hearing a decidedly youthful giggle from her bedroom upstairs.

 

It was Minerva’s voice, surprisingly enough. Aziza stared up the stairs, mouth agape. She’d never thought of Minerva Saturnius as someone who _giggled_.

 

Then again Minerva and Martin had done away with many of Aziza’s lifelong assumptions about them within only a few hours of being in their presence.  

 

She remembered how Minerva had trembled in silent terror looking at the cup of tea they’d put in front of her, and Aziza would have never expected someone as valiant as her ancestress to shake with fear. She cleared her throat and called out as heat rose to her cheeks at the thought of what her ancestors might have been doing in her old bedroom. “Hello? It’s me, Aziza!”

 

She heard soft shushing noises, followed by another giggle and a deeper chuckle from Martin. Strange. Incredibly strange. It was Minerva who replied, “We’ll be down in a moment!”

 

Aziza opted to wait in the familiar sitting area, dusting off a chair and sitting on it as she waited for her ancestors to appear. She wondered what else they may have spoken of, or what plans they had together. She didn’t know if Martin’s reappearance meant he was meant to rule, and not her mother. _We are still of his line,_ she thought. _We’re his son’s direct descendants. Does he even want the throne still?_

 

Noise from the stairs drew Aziza’s attention to the pair making their way down and she got to her feet. Minerva came first, her smile widening upon catching sight of Aziza, and Martin had a similar look on his face. “Forgive us for the wait,” Minerva said as she approached Aziza, reaching out to take both of her hands in hers. “It’s good to see you again, Aziza.”

 

“Um…It’s good to see you too,” Aziza replied, unable to keep from staring at her famed ancestors. Minerva Saturnius was not as Aziza had imagined her. Everything about her screamed Imperial sophistication, even the way she spoke. Honestly, it reminded Aziza of her mother, and that was deeply unsettling. She never would have thought that the woman who fought countless daedra and ventured into Oblivion was anything like her delicate and refined mother.

 

“I hope you slept well,” she said, noting how the pair in front of her seemed to always be touching, their arms now around each other’s waists. While they did seem to be paying attention to her, their eyes kept darting back towards each other. Aziza smiled, a bit embarrassed, and said, “Sorry for the dust, but we really haven’t made much use of this house since the war.”

 

“Everything was fine, Aziza,” Martin said, eyes filled with a gentility that caught Aziza off-guard. For years she’d envied that he’d been able to accomplish what she could never do, no matter how many errant dragon souls she absorbed. Before her was the man who had become a dragon, and yet he looked like any ordinary man she would have run into in the streets. It was stranger still to hear her name from the mouth of her ancestors. “I didn’t think that this was how I’d see Minerva’s home,” he added, gaze automatically landing on the woman beside him when he said her name. He then turned back to Aziza and amended, “Or rather…your home, now.”

 

The words amused Aziza. She'd spent years trying to run from Cyrodiil, away from the prison the Imperial City had become after the war. “Like I said, this hasn’t been home for years. My home is in Skyrim.”  _For the moment, at least, until..._ “Er, we were all interested in knowing what your plans are now. Do you plan on staying here in the Imperial City, or…”

 

“We decided it wouldn’t be the best idea,” Martin quickly replied.

 

Minerva nodded in agreement, adding, “Martin doesn’t intend on taking the throne now that you and your mother have taken it.”

 

Well, that was one problem solved, and Aziza breathed a bit easier. “The thing is that we’re still trying to hammer out what you two coming back had to do with the covenant Mother made.”

 

“Ah, yes. The…gem in her chest,” Minerva remarked, looking uncomfortable as she touched the spot over her heart. 

 

Aziza hadn't liked it much either, but in the end it had been her mother's choice. “It’ll disappear when she dies and move on to her heir. Me.” She didn't want to contemplate how that would occur. 

 

“That would have been so useful two centuries ago,” Minerva muttered, and Aziza gave a start at the bitterness in her voice.

 

“But then we wouldn’t have met,” Martin put in gently.

 

The hard look on Minerva's face softened at that, and she smiled at Martin. “There is that.” She then turned to Aziza, frowning thoughtfully. "Martin and I discussed it and we decided that…it’d be best if we left for Skyrim. Somewhere we won’t exactly be recognized. The entire world knows the truth about me and Martin, so…it’d be suspicious if a pair with our names suddenly appeared at around the same time the statue disappeared.”

 

“It wouldn’t really be that suspicious, Aziza said with a shrug. "Your names have been popular names to use for children for decades. At least until the Thalmor came along, but you two would be the right age to get away with it. Now, to start...I think I know where you may want to live. Back after the civil war I inherited some farmland outside of Whiterun from a man I did some work for when I first arrived. Strange, I know, but I didn’t exactly question it. Are you interested?”

 

“It sounds perfect,” Minerva exclaimed, her eyes brightening at the idea. 

 

Martin, however, shook his head with a wry laugh. “Incredible…I’m on my way back to a farm.”

 

Funny how Aziza would have preferred to be in his shoes.


End file.
